Build Up
by Heliotropium
Summary: It's not the kiss that's most exciting, it's waiting for those lips to touch. Magnus/Gaol shorts
1. Flowers

Companion piece(s) for When the Roof Caved In. I had a professor who once said that the most exciting part of a kiss scene in film is the moments building up. So this is a set of near kisses.

**Flowers**

"Now you pull it through—no, pull it like _that_!"

Two young children sat in the midst of a field of flowers. The Underworld Army had been forced into retreat by an unknown force and peace settled back in Angel Land. Because of the peace, many young boys had been left restless. An old swordsman and blacksmith came and settled in the town, so all the boys threw themselves at him in hopes that the old man would teach them his secrets. However, he had a strange condition before he would even consider taking in apprentices. The boys had to prove they were capable of being gentle. Most of the boys quit outright, but Magnus had a secret advantage over them. The key to his future success lied with his best friend Gaol. While she was just as tough and boyish as he was, she was also careful, a trait all the boys in town lacked. Gaol, who was also interested in learning the way of the sword, agreed to help him. He liked that about her. She never left him behind.

"Stop, you're going to break it!"

Tiny hands slapped Magnus' but Gaol was too late. Magnus had ripped the two flowers he was trying to tie together.

"You're so stupid Magnus!"

"This is stupid! I should be learning how to use a sword, not how to do girly things!"

Gaol punched him in the arm.

"This is so the weird old man teaches us, stupid Magnus!"

"You're stupid!"

With that, the young girl tackled her friend and they began to wrestle, crushing many flowers in their wake. Magnus managed to use his greater strength to pin Gaol to the floor. The look on her face was so priceless!

"Umm… Magnus?"

He had been so absorbed in the fact that he actually won a scuffle against her that he hadn't noticed how close their faces had been. He could see all the black flecks that made a ring around her pupils. Her eyes were so enchanting…

"Earth to Magnus! Get off, you fatty!"

The insult snapped him out of his daze and he quickly scrambled off. He muttered an apology, confused by the uncomfortable feeling in the bottom of his stomach.

"Now." Gaol said, brushing the dirt and flower petals off her dress. "Let's get back to this so we get to beat each other up with real swords."

* * *

Song gave me this theme. I'm going to have trouble thinking up of different themes, so if you could leave me some, that would be lovely. (4/18/12)


	2. Eyes

This prompt was suggested by Curimuch, whose support makes me very happy. So thanks!

And to Logic Editor… As much as I'd love to use your suggestion as a prompt, I can foresee it getting dirty very fast. Which doesn't mean I won't do it (hey hey hey), but uh… Like the Ask Magnus and Gaol account on tumblr (It's not a shameless plug if I call it out first),_ this_ drabble is work safe.

**Eyes**

"You need to put your foot there—no, _there_."

Magnus had faced many trials in his lifetime. He had close encounters with the Underworld Army as a child, learned to make flower crowns to learn to use his sword, but learning to dance for his wedding was by far the most challenging so far. And as always, he had Gaol to instruct him.

"Alright, let's try this again." Gaol sighed. She held up her arms in frame and Magnus hastily took them. "So far so good, let's actually start. And this time, don't look at your feet."

Magnus nodded. He locked eyes with her as they circled around each other, exchanging hands. She had the most captivating eyes he had ever seen. Her eyes had an unusual glow to them that he found easy to get lost in. He felt himself get closer to her with every step just to stare in them. She was comfortably in his arms, fitting almost perfectly in the crook of his arm.

Almost.

Gaol's hot breath against his face snapped him back to reality. He was getting married to another woman, not to her. He quickly pulled away, averting his eyes from her gaze.

"Sorry 'bout that." Magnus coughed. Gaol laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, you didn't step on my toes this time, so that's an improvement. Come on. You almost got it. You're dancing, not strategizing for battle."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Again, she took up her frame and waited for him to take hold of her hands. He complied, hoping this time, her eyes would not ensnare him once more.

* * *

I only just realized near kisses work better visually. Oh well. (5/2/12)

ETA: Gosh darn it I didn't proofread this at all. Wonder what that means about my TAs since I usually get high grades on my papers without revising them... :|a


	3. Clothing

Again, this prompt was provided by Curimuch. Who I will now be bothering randomly to beta these because apparently I write very goodly riding the bus.

**Clothing**

When Gaol returned to camp after the entire Dark Lord fiasco, she expected to lay low and let Magnus deal with the other mercenaries while she quietly continued to strategize battle plans and deal with their finances. She didn't expect them to welcome her back with open arms and forgive her as Magnus had.

What she would have never dreamed of was finding half of her things missing. Normally she had no qualms. It was easy threatening the shopkeepers and whoever else the others pawned her belongings to into returning them to their rightful owner, then docking the perpetrator's pay. However, along with the things missing were her own clothes. It took all of Magnus' strength to prevent her from murdering the entire camp in a frenzy he could only compare to lampreys on fresh flesh. Having a naked, screaming woman who was a Dark Lord not even a week ago killing everyone in pure bloodlust would have only been a signal for the end of the world.

It took much convincing, hair pulling, and general violence to calm Gaol down. In retaliation, she docked everyone's pay before retreating to her room, wearing the Dark Lord's cape as a make shift toga. Eventually, everyone managed to recover her things, but were too afraid of her wrath to return them personally. Magnus understood; Gaol was absolutely terrifying when anger escaped her emotional prison. However, Magnus cursed their names and their next seven generations for dumping the responsibility of returning her things on him. He stood in front of her door, fearing for the first time in his life that he would pee himself if she was still mad. He was the unlucky one who was going to bear the brunt of her force as she had already punched him in the face and slam the door on him without a word when he went to check on her.

Magnus knocked on her door apprehensively and immediately jumped back when her fist shot out.

"Oh, it's just you Magnus." Gaol said, lowering the offending appendage.

"Geez, I go to return your stuff and that's how you thank me? I'm starting to think you don't deserve it back."

"I will murder you in your sleep." The blonde growled. "Don't think I won't."

"Okay, I believe you!" Magnus laughed. He pulled the crate containing her belongings and pushed it into her room. She removed the cover and pulled out her clothing from the top of the stack. She hugged the fabric close to her and smiled.

"I'm never letting you out of my sight, clothes." She sighed happily. The black haired swordsman scratched his head.

"Can I go now?" He asked. She looked at him, throwing her clothing back into the crate and then threw herself into his arms. He tensed, fearing danger, but when he sensed there was no threat to his well being, he wrapped his arms around her slim figure.

"Thanks Magnus." She said, resting her chin on his shoulder. "For not wussing out like the others." She pressed her cheek against his, and when she felt him return pressure, she dared to turn her face until his stubble scratched the corner of her lips. Magnus smiled to himself and turned to kiss her…

All it took was one cough from behind to have Gaol immediately fling Magnus out of her room with strength that could contest his title as strongest human warrior and slam the door without rewarding him.

* * *

Notes for everyone: Never try to explain your feels for a ship for it is futile. (5/16/12)


	4. Faith

Another prompt from Curimuch. She is a bad influence on me :C

Speaking of Curi, she's my beta for these drabbles, so any mistakes are also her fault. HAHA TAKE THAT.

**Faith**

They rarely prayed. To the hardened mercenaries, praying was a sign that one was completely helpless. Magnus stopped believing the Gods would help them when he and Gaol were forced to flee their homeland those many years ago. Gaol stopped believing that Gods even liked humans after witnessing so many tragedies. They had to lift themselves up and work hard to survive. No Gods were involved in rebuilding their lives. Magnus only started to believe they were capable of good when he met Pit. Even if it was the angel and not his Goddess who helped save his best friends, the encounter gave him tiny hope for the Gods.

It had been three years since that fateful encounter. Palutena's army vanished after defending the people. The fools around him never stopped believing in her return. Their faith was rewarded when the celestial army began to decimate their forces. Magnus and Gaol immediately dispatched to ward off the Centurions. The endless fighting was reminiscent of the way he had to battle waves of Underworld monsters when raiding Gaol's castle.

"There's a weak point in their formation on the far right." Gaol shouted to him. "Shatter it!"

The only difference was that his partner was by his side and not some chatty angel, and he was thankful for that. She had always complimented his physical strength with her mental one. He had no doubts when she claimed Medusa gave her a very important leadership position in the Underworld Army. He found the hole Gaol discovered in the flock of Centurion Knights, and sent them scattering with one swing of his sword. With their formation broken, the soldiers of the Goddess of Light were easy to defeat. The surviving forces began to retreated and the humans cheered.

"Good call, Gaol." Magnus praised.

"It could have only been done with your strength." She commented back. They grinned at each other.

"Kiss already!" A rowdy mercenary cried. Others joined him much to Magnus and Gaol's chagrin. The swordman sighed, scratching at the back of his head.

"Well I don't like disappointing them." He said. He slipped an arm around her waist securely and dipped her. She only rolled her eyes at him.

"Just this once." Gaol conceded. He leaned in as she craned her head up. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. "Look out!" She managed to push herself off his knee and surprise tackle Magnus away. A split second later, an arrow made of energy smashed into the ground where they were with an eerie moan.

"Angelface!" Magnus gasped.

"It was only a matter of time." Gaol said in a hushed voice.

The angel landed, causing the other mercenaries and soldiers to scatter in fear. Magnus heaved up his sword while Gaol took up her stance. Pit rushed Gaol, quickly separating her from her partner. She dodged with ease, swiftly circling around him and countered. The brunet took her hits but didn't stagger, much to her surprise. He jumped back and fired an arrow at her. Though she tried to dodge, it caught her in the side and tore through her armor. Magnus charged Pit, landing a hard combo on the angel.

"What the heck's wrong with you and your goddess!" he roared angrily. Pit jumped in the air and said nothing as his body was caught in a beam of light. He warped away, leaving only a few feathers in his wake.

"Magnus…"

The soft, feminine moan took all of his attention. He quickly knelt to inspect Gaol's wound. Luckily, it didn't cut too deep, but she was still losing blood fast. He pulled out a wad of bandages from his pouch and hastily wrapped it around her wound.

"You're going to be fine, Gaol." He breathed.

"I know." She said softly. "But there is something wrong with Palutena. Pit too… Something… There's something wrong with their minds."

"How can you tell?"

"He didn't talk… Not a peep… He… was such a chatterbox when we fought before. Always talking to her... And the way she deployed her forces… It was too aggressive, too… chaotic than when I had to deal with them as the Dark Lord. There's no order."

Though he never dealt with the Centurions, Magnus pondered Gaol's observation. While some of the celestial soldiers had formation, they would wander off easily and barely had any coordination. There was even something off about Pit aside from his vow of silence.

"Magnus… We have to find the truth. Track down the angel…Find out what's going on and stop him."

"We will." He promised. "Let's just get you patched up now." Before she could protest, Magnus lifted Gaol into his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, but her eyes were in a different world. The time between her blinking were a telltale sign she was thinking. There was a sadness lacing them. He looked at the others and saw the same melancholy hanging over them. He watched some shed ornaments decorated with Palutena's symbols and painfully throw them on the ground.

He knew it was foolish to have faith in the Gods.

* * *

Ran with the prompt a little. It ran a little longer. Whooops. (5/23/12)


	5. Lust

Again the prompt is from Curimuch which… bumps the rating up to T hilariously. I'm running of her prompts, so feel free to send in some if you want this to continue.

And remember guys, if Curimuch leaves you a review, she's trying to help you in the most tsun way possible.

**Lust**

Magnus was always late to debriefing. Over the years she's worked with him, he's always had some reason to be tardy. Whether it was helping a little old lady in town or getting caught up with training. Gaol knew this as if it were a fact of life that can't be helped.

"The Underworld Army struck the town over here, and they need extra muscle defending their holes. But we need to spread out around town so that their defenses don't breach, and Magnus, I know you're sneaking in, don't bother."

Gaol whipped around to glare at him, expecting to see him sheepishly scratch the back of his head. She soon regretted turning her attention to him.

"Uhh yeah, there was this snafu at the river, and…"

She tuned out his explanation in an attempt to ignore the fact that he was still soaking wet and missing his top. The way rivulets of water ran down his chest, highlighting every muscle on his body was distracting enough, and she didn't want her thoughts to wander. She didn't want to think about peeling off the rest of his clothes that clung stubbornly to his body slowly and deliberately. She could already feel the heat rising to her face and the uncomfortable sensation in her lower torso form.

"So anyway." Gaol coughed. "We'll need to split up into different groups, with our main force at the weak spot and the rest patrolling the outer perimeter."

"So how are we divvying this up?" Magnus asked, raising a hand as he always did during debriefing. Gaol tried her best to not look at him, but her eyes betrayed her to enjoy the image before her. Every time she averted her eyes, they kept locking back onto the unwanted target.

'_Focus Gaol, focus…'_

She forced her mind into thinking about the mission. Town defense, Underworld Army, fighting, Magnus pinning her against the table and…

A strangled noise escaped her throat. The other mercenaries looked at her and she was suddenly reminded of what it was like to be a teenage girl again. Suddenly, they began to leave, shaking their heads and chuckling.

"A—And just where do you guys think you're going?" Gaol demanded. "We're still in the middle…"

"Your head's not in the game." A brave soul calmly explained. "We'll let you two do… what _you guys gotta do._ Just clean up before you call us back this time."

Magnus scratched his head, confused by the turn of events. When the last of the group left, he suddenly understood what they meant as Gaol jerked him back. The unexpected force caused him to topple onto her and pin her to the table. The mischievous expression on her face made it perfectly clear what she had been thinking the entire time.

"Geez, control yourself." He laughed. "Let's make this quick, we can't have the others waiting too long." Gaol just rolled her eyes and pulled him closer as he began fumbling with her belts.

Crunch.

Magnus immediately pulled away and opened the door to find the others tumble over. A few had been pressed up against it in an attempt to hear everything, while a few others in the back froze in terror, popcorn falling from their slacked jaws.

"If you guys were so eager to get back to debriefing, I guess we can do that." Gaol said, frustration lacing her every word.

And nobody had fun that day.

* * *

Oh god I'm so horrible (5/26/12)


	6. Hair

I've got nothing to say for this part.

**Hair**

Gaol hated her hair. She hated the light color and the attention it brought. Everyone else had black hair or varying shades of brown, but she was the only one cursed with golden locks. The little girl remembered a time when she was surrounded by people like her. The old village had so many colors of hair, when Magnus' black hair was a minority. But when the Underworld Army came, she became the minority when she and Magnus fled.

She stared at the murky mixture in the shallow basin. The mixture of plant extracts and bug juices gave off a foul odor. The old woman said that if she bathed her hair in this smelly concoction, she would have darker hair. She lowered her head.

The memory of her father's blond hair caked with blood was still fresh and would not go away anytime soon.

Magnus entered the hut and was greeted by a rotten smell and the sight of Gaol crying. The tips of her hair were a dark brown, which matched a lumpy liquid that was seeping into the dirt floor. He sighed and carefully approached her. She didn't acknowledge his presence.

"Papa…" She whimpered. "Mama…"

He was not sure how to handle this delicate situation. She always had her parents to deal with her when she cried. He racked his brain for memories. His own mother always used to pull him close and kiss him before she passed away from a mysterious illness. Surely her mother did the same. Magnus wrapped his arms around his companion awkwardly and she stiffened. He pat her on the back, changing the pitch of her soft whines with every pat. He kissed her temple, then her forehead. When she seemed to calm down, he pulled away to see if what he done had helped. Gaol stared at him with her big, bright eyes with a curious expression on her face.

"You feel better?" he asked.

She wiped away her tears and nodded. "Yeah…"

"What were you doing?"

"Trying to change my hair color."

"Why?"

"So I can look like everybody else."

Magnus frowned. "But your hair's so… so pretty! Why would you want to look like everybody else?"

"They look at me funny."

"Then hit them!"

Gaol laughed at his suggestion, making him beam inside by the fact that he cheered her up on his own. He leaned in, kissed her nose, and pressed their foreheads together.

"Let's clean that nasty stuff out of your hair." Magnus said, running his fingers through it. He stopped at the tip, making a face at the black substance staining his fingers. Gaol giggled and intertwined their fingers.

"Okay."

* * *

Ahh I love writing them as kids, I have so much free range on them like that. (5/30/12)


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